Luke 4:36

36 And astonishment came upon all, and they spoke to one another, saying, What word [is] this? for with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.

Luke 4:36 Meaning and Commentary

Luke 4:36

And they were all amazed
The people in the synagogue; they were astonished at his doctrine before, and now at his miracles:

and spake among themselves;
as they were in the synagogue,

what a word is this?
meaning, either what sort of doctrine is this which is attended with such power and miracles; or what a word of command is this, "hold thy peace, and come out of him?" and so the Ethiopic version renders it, "what is this mandatory", or "commanding word?" to which agrees the Syriac version, rendering it with the following clause thus; "what is this word", that "with authority and power it commands the unclean spirits, and they come out?" (See Gill on Mark 1:27).

Luke 4:36 In-Context

34 saying, Eh! what have we to do with thee, Jesus, Nazarene? hast thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy [One] of God.

35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out from him. And the demon, having thrown him down into the midst, came out from him without doing him any injury.

36 And astonishment came upon all, and they spoke to one another, saying, What word [is] this? for with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.

37 And a rumour went out into every place of the country round concerning him.

38 And rising up out of the synagogue, he entered into the house of Simon. But Simon's mother-in-law was suffering under a bad fever; and they asked him for her.

Footnotes

• [a]. Exousia and dunamis: see Matt. 10.1.